Adieu…For Now

In this time of deep snows and long nights, I write to tell you that this blog is going into hibernation for a while. I know this is a disappointment to some of you—it certainly is to me! I have thoroughly enjoyed the ongoing challenge of sharing my thoughts here, and have very mixed feelings about putting it to bed for a while. Here are the reasons why I’ve decided that it’s the right thing to do:

Balance—I’ve written a lot about trying to maintain a sane and happy balance in a life full of competing demands. For me, this always comes down to not being greedy. When I want too much I inevitably end up feeling driven and guilty and disappointed. Right now I am trying to have too much. I have become a slave to my to-do lists, which saps both my creativity and my enjoyment.

Like everybody else, I struggle with this balance all the time. But mine just got a whole lot more complicated. After spending much of the fall agonizing about it, our family has decided to move to Montreal, Canada next spring. We are incredibly excited about this opportunity, but the reality of an international move is starting to set in. (Sell house, find house, find job, arrange immigration, learn French…) It’s going to be a busy winter. I want to give this move the time and mental energy that it deserves, and to do that I have to pull back from other projects. I can’t think of any other way.

Focus—As I have built this blog my understanding and appreciation of blogs as a medium has grown. I have found that the blogs I follow most eagerly are both entertaining and informative and—here’s the key—related to very specific topics. I have known all along that this blog would benefit from a more defined theme, but I needed to write my way around a variety of topics in order to discern what that central purpose really was. I have some pretty good ideas about it now, but I suspect that the upcoming shift in latitude and career will change my perspective a bit.

I hope that before many months go by I will be able to awaken this blog from its long winter’s nap—reenergized, refocused, and with a renewed sense of purpose. (And perhaps the beginnings of a Quebecois accent!)

In the meantime, warm wishes to all for the holiday season and the New Year.